Former UFC title challenger, Brian Ortega wants to get back to incorporating more of his jiu-jitsu skills in his fighting style.
Ortega spoke with reporters at Wednesday's media day for this weekend's UFC on ABC 3 event in Elmont, New York ahead of his main event clash with Yair Rodríguez, and explained how his latest loss to reigning UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, back at UFC 266 has changed his mental approach to the game.
“I’d be lying to you if I didn’t, for the last couple of months, and every fan reminding you, ‘Yo, you almost became a champ.’ I was like, ‘Thanks, you f*cking d*ck.’ You don’t think I sit there and think about it? Trust me. I know. I’ve got to live with my f*cking self,” Ortega said (h/t MMA Junkie). “Then there’s a part of (me) like, ‘Bro, stop being a b*tch. Go in there and make the adjustments, and make sure you’re undeniable the way he is doing right now.’ I’ve got to take a page (out of Volkanovski’s) book. He’s making sure that he’s undeniably the best that he is. If I want to become a champ, I’ve got to steal a page out of that man’s book. When it comes to that mentality, you have to be undeniable. That’s what I’m doing. I’m doing my best at trying to work as hard as I can to make sure that I’m undeniable. As a fighter, you stick to your bread and butter, and you do things. Because I’ve been known as a jiu-jitsu guy, I kind of got comfortable with it. I hadn’t trained it as hard as I used to. I was like, ‘Well, I’ve got that in the bag. Let me work on these other things that I’m not so good at. Let me work on my striking. Let me work on other things.’ Then when it came down to the situation, where your bread and butter is going to get you this fight, I forgot minimal, minor details. It was a reality check for me. It was like, ‘Don’t forget where you come from and what brought you over here.'”
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